Film moving mechanism



July 7, 1936. M MERTA 2,046,572

FILM MOVING MECHANISM Filed Nov. 4, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 July 7, 1936. M, MERTA' 2,046,572

FILMV MOVING MECHANISM l Filed Nov. 4, 1932 SEMS-Sheet 2 o 5L 'Il o 2.a'

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Patented July 7, 1936 STATES mM MOVING MEcnANrsM Method Merta, Chicago, lll., assignor of one-half to Lewis H. Moomaw, Wilmette, lll.

Application November 4, 1932, serial No. 641,145

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a mechanism for moving film through a moving picture projecting machine and particularly to the type in which gelatine or other composition film having spaced 5 apart edge apertures is employed. Machines of known construction, either those used in moving picture theaters or those for home use, have heretofore employed either sprocket wheels hav` ing a plurality of teeth which engage the film apertures to pull the lm through the film gate of the projecting machine and across the-film aperture, or have employed a rotating and reciprocating hook-like claw which is driven by power means to cause said claw to engage successive apertures -and draw the same downwardly. Because`the nlm must necessarily travel at a comparatively high speed great diillculties and unsatisfactory reproduction has been experienced due to the fact that the reciprocating claw when moving in a downwardly diagonal position frequently engages the edges' of the nlm apertures to push the film outwardly, and when the film is lowered the distance equal to that, between two iilm apertures the claw is withdrawn in a downwardlydiagonal position, again frictionally contacting the edgesfof the iilm apertures to cause the iilm to be drawn a very small distance rearwardly or in the direction Vopposite to that imparted to the iilm when the iilm moving claw Aenters the illm apertures. This motion repeated at high speeds has resulted in vibration of thefllm horizontally and in many types of machines it has been impossible to eliminate it. This unsatisfactory vibration of the lm causes a jerky motion in the reproduction which is diiiicult upon the viewer's eyes.

' Myinvention has lfor its object the provision y of fa, mechanism adapted to be attached to practically any type of known machine, which mech- 40 'anismcauses nlm engaging pins to move exactly 'horizontally into the iilm and horizontally away from the nim instead of in arcuate and diagonal directions.

A further object of my invention is the pro- 1 45 vision of a. mechanism in which the movable film engaging element is moved exactly horizontally and vertically in downward or upward direction, the downward vertical stroke pulling with it the apertured iilm without imparting vibration thereto.

A further object of my invention .is the provision of a mechanical movement adapted to drive the vertically and 'horizontally moving nlm engaging member in such manner that the downf ward working stroke of the nlm movlngand engaging member will be much faster than the movement of said member in any of the other three directions, at the same time the speed of the driving means being constant.

A further object of my invention is the pro- 5 vision of a mechanical movement whereby an object moving element which is mounted for vertical and horizontal movement will be moved faster' over a desired portion of the cycle of its travel than its movement. over the' remaining 10 portions.

A furtherobject of my invention is the provision of power transmission means from a rotating element whereby a rotatable member will be rotated at varying degrees of speed during one coml5 plete rotation, the speed of the power element remaining constant.

Other and further objects of this invention will be apparent from the disclosures in the specication and the accompanying drawings. 20

This invention (in a preferred' form) is illustrated in the drawings and hereinafter more fully described.

On the drawings:

Fig. -1 is an end elevational view of my device 25 showing the preferred form of my mechanism in relative position to the nlm gate and iiim.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation taken from the left of Fig. 1 showing in detail the illm engaging member and the means whereby the same is moved 30 vertically and horizontally.

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view taken on line lII--IlIoi Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view taken on line IV-IVof Fig. 1. 35

Figs'. 5,`6, 7 and 8 respectively illustrate the respectiveposltions of the cam when the lm moving member is making one cycle.

Fig. 9 is an end elevational view of a modiiled form of themeans which I employ for transmit- 40 ting the power to effect varied rotative speed of the iilm moving member.

Fig. 10 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken from the left on line X-X of Fig. 9.

As' shown on the drawings: 45

The reference numeral l0 indicates an/apertured mounting block in which is mounted the bearing bushing il, one end of which preferably projects from one side of the block. Rotatably mounted in said bearing bushing II is the shaft '50 '|2, the enlarged end of which has securely mounted thereonA a circular plate I3, said plate being shown in Fig. 4 and in cross section in Fig. 3. The plate i3 has a diametric groove I4 and substantially' semi-circular liber segments I5 55 `in cross section in Fig. 3, and passes through the central' hollow portion of aframe memberA I1 1 which is Vpreferably rectangular and made of liber. The frame member I1 hasvertical guide flanges formed integral which slidably engage one edge of va pairof spaced apart guide plates I8 and I9 respectivelysaid guide plates being secured by screws lor the like in the relative' positions showin'Fig 2. 'Ihe frame member I1 has outwardly extending flanges 26,- as clearly indicated in Figs. 2 and 3, said Iflanges forming opposed corner recesses as indicated. A square shaped .hollow frame 2|, preferably made of metal and having transversely extending anges, is slidably mounted between the flanges/20 of the frame 'member I1 so that the frame 2| may move horizontally within the frame I1, the opposite sides thereof slidably engagingthe flanges 26. Formed integral with the upper cornerof the frame 2| is a horizontally extending arm, the end of which is bifurcated to forma pair of spaced apartpins 22, saidpins being adapted toengage the apertures of a lm as hereinafter described.

Securely mounted by means of a nut or the like on the reduced end of the shaft I2 and snugly fitting within the vinner frame 2| is a substantially triangular cam 23, said cam being 'of a size so'that it may snugly rotate within the frame 2|. It will be apparent that rotation of ythe shaftl I2 and `cam 23 thereon in a clockwise direction, looking at Fig. 2,'wi1l cause the .frame 2| to move horizontally to the right, as illustrated in the position of Figs. 5 and 6, that when the cam 23 reaches the position indicated in Fig. 6 it will cause the frame 23 and the'lframe member I1 tok move downwardly into the position illustrated schematicallyv in Fig. 7; and then upon further rotation of the cam to the position shownv in Fig. 8, theframe 23 and the frame member I1 will have remained inthe same position; ,that upon further movement from the position shown in Fig. 8 to that shown in Fig. 5 the frame member will be moved upwardly to the original posi? tion shown in Fig. 5.

'I'he iilm gate illustrated in Figs. 2and 3 comprises a guide plate 24 which is secured to the mounting block I0 by screws or the like in'a well known manner, the guiding plate extending a short distance upwardly and downwardly and having lateral flanges 25 which serve to guide the apertured nlm. The upper end of the guide member 24 is preferably bent in a diagonal direction as indicated in Fig. 2 so that thelm will not engage the end of said plate. A door 26 having its centralportion cut away as shown in Fig. 1 is hingedly mounted upon a vertical pin 21, the ends being secured to the film gate by means of hooks `28. Secured upon the inner side of the door 26 is an elongated apertured lm tension member 29 which fits between the flanges of the` guide plate 24 and is yieldably mounted with respect to the door 26 by means of a pair of pins' 30 and relatively small coiled springs 3| which surroundfsaid pins and separates the tension' member 29 from the door 26. Below the rectangular lm aperture 32 formed in the guide plate 24 are formed a pair of vertical slots (not shown). The pins 422 formed integral with the upper part of the frame 2| being adapted to project into Said spaced apart slots to engage the edge aperturesl of 'the' iilm and move the same downwardly. Upon completionof the downward path the pins move' horizontally out of the apertures in ther A guide plate 24. vThis cycle is repeated in the .5 manner previously described, thepins 22 moving horizontally and perpendicularly to the film without imparting any undesirable movement or vibration to the lmjthen moving `the' film downwardly and thereafter the pins move horizontally 10 out of the lm apertures without imparting undesirable movement to the iilm.

As is well known, the rate at which the film .passes through the projector head must be relatively fast, ranging from one foot in 2% seconds 15 to one foot in 1 second', and in order that the mechanical parts of my device may draw the film at the desired speed in a downward direction I have provided a highly novel means permitting relatively slow movement of the mechanical parts 20 of my device, at the same time moving the ilm at the required and desired speed. This is accompli'shed by my mechanism which will now be described which, when adjusted' to one of several positions, will cause the film engaging pins 22 25 and the said frames to move in downward Afilmdrawing direction at a speed twice as fast as their travel in any other direction.

'I'he vpreferred form of this mechanism comprises the axle 33 which is journalled in a suitable 30 bearing V34 formed in the upper end of a right angled bracket 35, said bracket being secured to mounting plate I IJ, for example by a threaded screw 36. 'I'he position of the axle 33 is such that it is non-concentric and in non-alignment with 35 the axis of the shaft I2, one end oi' the shaft 33 terminating a short distance away from the end of the shaft I2, and its other end projecting outwardly for the convenient mounting thereon of a suitable pulley 31 which in the preferred form is secured thereon by means of a nut 38. Formed integral with the inner end of the axle shaft 33 is a horizontally extending eccentric stud 39 which normally engages and rotates in the l'aperture of the block I6. It will be apparent that rotation of the shaft 33 will also rotate the circular plate I3, the stud 3 9 rotating and forming a non-concentric circle about the axis of the shaft, I2 and passing close to said axis on one side and gradually farther away from the axis in the other side. As the shaft 33 is' rotated it will be apparent that the slidable block I6 will slide back and forth in diametric groove I4 and the shaft I2 will be caused to rotate with much greater speed, according to desired adjustment, when the stud is close to the axis of shaft I2, and with slower speed when it is farther away.- By adjusting the relative location of the bracket 35 with respect to the axis of ythe shaft I2 during a single rotation thereof it may be' regulated so that the downward 60 movement of the pins 22 and inner frame will be greater than movement in any other direction,

this permitting a slow'er and uniform rotation of the pulley 31 and shaft 33' and' at the same time attaining the desired and relatively rapid downward movement of the illm.

The modied form of my mechanism for attaining varied rotative speedn the film moving element heretofore described is illustrated in Figs. 9 and 10. In this form the non-concentric 70 axles 40 and 4| are mountedin a manner similar to that described herein with reference to the preferred form of my invention, the only modification being in the use of an ovoid shaped gear 'wheel 42 which has an aperture relatively 75 40 a transversely extending integral stud adjacent-o near'fits periphery and is mounted on the axle 40 as indicated in' Fig. 1. A -similar ovoid shaped gear wheel 43 having a non-concentric aperture nearits periphery is mounted on Athe endof the axle 4l in such a position that thev teeth of the gear whee'l 43 will constantly mesh with those of the gear wheel 42. As the 'axle 40 is rotated it will be apparent that an irregular and varied rotative speed is obtained by the axle 4| andby placing the gearv wheel in the proper position the film moving pins 22 and the frames heretofore described will be moved at a relatively greater speed upon the downward stroke than in any other direction. Y

. It will be understood that the mechanical movement herein described which attains a varied rotative speed during each cycle with simultaneous uniform rotation from the power source may be employed in devices other than that described, and I desire that it be understood that my invention be not limited to the specic application of this mechanism herein described.

I am aware that many changes may be made and numerous details of the invention and construction thereof may be varied through a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention; and I therefore do not desire to limit thepatent granted thereon otherwise than necessitated by the prior art. y

I claim as my invention:

1. In a mechanism for intermittently moving a ilm strip in a projector head, an apertured mounting block releasably connected to the projector head; a rotatable shaft journalled in saidl aperture, one end of said shaft being reduced and projecting horizontally; a grooveddrive pulley mounted on the projecting end of said shaft; a perpendicularly extending member formed integral with the opposite end of said drive shaft;

the periphery of said member; an axle shaft journaued m said projector head in position non-concentric and parallel to said rst menvtioned shaft, said axle shaft having one end terminating in an integral wheel; a pair of spaced apart opposed substantially semi-circular-plates 5 secured on said wheel and forming a diametrically extending groove therebetween; an apertured block slidable in said groove, said stud rotatably engaging said block aperture; a substantially triangular cam on the opposite ,end of said last mentioned axle shaft; and means intermittently actuable by saidcam, when rotated, to impart movement to a film, the substantially uniform rotation of said groove pulley and drive shaft being adapted to rotate said axle shaft at l5 varying speeds during each cycle.

2. In a mechanism for intermittently moving a film strip in a projector head, a driven shaft journalled in substantially horizontal position therein; a wheel formed integrally with one end of said shaft; a pair of opposed spaced apart substantially semi-circular members on the surface of said wheel and forming a diametrically extending groove; an apertured block slidable in said groove; a driving Vshaft joui-nailed parallel, adjacent to and non-concentrically to said driven shaft and adjacent said wheel, one end of said driving shaft terminating in a perpendicularly extending ann; a perpendicularly extending stud on said arm in rotative engagement with the aperture of said slidable block; means for rotating saiddriving shaft to .impart variable speed to said driven shaft; a substantially triangular cam on the other end of said driven shaft, and mechanism movable vertically and horizontally by rotation of said cam and said driven shaft adapted to engage and impart intermittent movement to a lm strip engaged thereby.

METHOD MER'I'A. 40 

